INU Staff Shadowing

The INU Staff Shadowing Program aims to strengthen the links between members by providing opportunities to administrative staff to visit, study, discuss, and benchmark administration and governance systems across the network. Through the visits, both the sending and the hosting universities benefit from sharing best practices. The program allows staff members spend one or two weeks with one or two different INU partners to “shadow” a colleague at the hosting universities.

All INU member universities are invited to participate in the INU Staff Shadowing Program.

AREAS OF INTEREST

The Staff Shadowing Program focuses on the following areas; however, other areas can be added if members express sufficient interest.

Alumni Relations Finance Management International Programs & International Student and Staff Services Student Affairs/Student Support Services Community Engagement Fundraising IT Support Service Learning Library Services Human Resources Management Research Management

REQUIREMENTS

Must be employed at an INU member university.

Must have a good working knowledge of English.

FINANCIAL AND PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

Costs will be covered by the host and home universities participating in the program. The home university will provide airfare, while the host university will arrange and fund housing (e.g., hotel or home stay) and some meals. Applicants may be asked to pay for their local transportation and some meals.

The INU Project Manager will facilitate the process between the applicant and the hosting university to come to a mutual agreement on suitable dates for the visit. The ideal shadowing period is a week per institution. This will allow time for travel, three days of business, and extra time for personal and cultural visits. Applicants may apply to shadow at one or two institutions at a time, as their home institution permits and host institutions can accommodate.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Benefit of the visit to the home and host universities’ overall international strategies;

Potential of the visit for contributing to the applicant’s professional development;

Value of the visit in contributing to INU cooperation activities.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Staff seeks approval at home institution. Staff interested in participating should seek advice from the INU point of contact at his/her own institution regarding any specific selection procedures that may be in place. Once approved for participation in the Shadowing Program, interested staff should prepare the application documentation and information.

Information required for completing the online application:

Applicant’s name, title, address, email, phone

Areas of interest (see above)

Host institution preferences (the applicant should look at member university websites to make informed decisions about host universities that most closely match the applicant’s interest)

Selected time periods for the visit (e.g., two specific months or weeks). Applicant should allow enough time for the INU Project Manager and host universities to process the request – at least six months before the intended travel dates. Additionally, a set of dates will allow the host universities flexibility in identifying the appropriate unit/office/department and setting the schedule.

Supervisor’s name and contact information

Documents required for the application:

A summary of key tasks undertaken in current job (maximum one page)

A description of what applicant wants to experience and learn

A signed letter of support from home institution approving authority (i.e., supervisor)

A signed letter of support from the international office (i.e., INU point person at home institution)

A copy of applicant’s CV or Resume

Documents should be either Microsoft Word or PDF files. Applicant will upload the documents in the process of completing the online application.